The 27th Sundance ASCAP Music Café returned to Acura's House of Energy on January 26 and January 27 to celebrate the love affair between music and film at the heart of the Sundance Film Festival with a mix of chart-topping and up-and-coming songwriters and composers.
This year’s Sundance ASCAP Music Café featured performances from Eric Bazilian of celebrated rock band The Hooters with James Bourne of pop-punk band Busted; Grammy-winning hitmaker Toby Gad (John Legend’s “All of Me,” Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry”) alongside acclaimed vocalist and actress Antonique Smith and up-and-coming singer-songwriter Mae Mae; southern rock band The Wild Feathers, whose eclectic mix of Americana and heartland pop has landed them on tours with major acts like Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson; Nashville singer-songwriter HAFFWAY, whose unique sound is a blend of folk and alternative or “folkternative;” and Mexican-Dominican singer-songwriter Ambar Lucid, an artist who transports listeners with her dreamy music.
In addition to the exciting performances, ASCAP Screen Time, the ASCAP Film & Television team’s ongoing interview series about the craft and business of music for screens, hosted four exclusive conversations with the creators behind some of the festival’s most anticipated films. On day one, composer Jeff Morrow spoke with director Cristina Costantini on scoring SALLY, a documentary about Sally Ride, the first woman to blast off into space. Later, ASCAP AVP Film & TV Mike Todd talked with composer Jay Wadley about his score for The Wedding Banquet starring Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone. Day two kicked off with an engaging conversation with composer Josh Dibb and director Albert Birney on their film OBEX, a black-and-white fantasy film following a man living in seclusion with his dog Sandy. Afterward, composer Katya Mihailova discussed working on the documentary How to Build a Library, a story that follows two Kenyan women as they transform a dilapidated, junk-filled town library in downtown Nairobi into a hub for the city’s citizens and creatives.
Photo by Fred Hayes
Check out the Day One Recap Video here!
